Playdates
by Niry Krane
Summary: Tatsuki's karate lesson with Ichigo- the day his mother was killed. Oneshot.


This is in response to my poll. I got two votes for a Bleach story and one vote for everything else, so I wrote a oneshot. It's about Tatsuki the day Ichigo's mother was killed by Grand Fisher. Read and review please!

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When rain was falling, heavy as tears, from the cheeks of great dark clouds over Karakura Town, and a chill that wasn't just from the wind was settling deep in the flesh and bones of its inhabitants, a girl stood dressing in a white gi, in a house just off a small road by Karakura High.

"Tatsuki!" a voice reached the girl's ears. "Tatsuki, it's time for karate!"

She was young; nine years of age. Her hair, the color of gleaming ebony, was cropped short and practical, so it wouldn't get in the way of her fists.

"Coming, Mom!" Tatsuki had just finished putting on her gi and had been admiring how professional she looked in her mother's full-length mirror.

Tatsuki was a tomboy; she liked to goof off and get into trouble, like most nine-year-olds, but she was more sporty and tough than other girls her age.

"Will Ichigo and Masaki be there, Mom?" Tatsuki put on her shoes and took her mother's hand.

"Oh, I don't know," Mrs. Arisawa sighed. "The Kurosakis are a busy bunch."

Kurosaki Ichigo was in Tatsuki's grade; a small, fragile-looking boy with shocking, spiky yellow hair that made him easy to spot in a sea of black and brown.

The car ride to the dojo wasn't very long; only about ten minutes at most, but Tatsuki was jumping in her seat the whole way. When the dojo finally loomed on the dark, rain-filled horizon, Mrs. Arisawa and Tatsuki left the vehicle and entered the karate school.

Putting on her headgear and gloves, Tatsuki watched the door anxiously for her sunny-headed friend, but Ichigo appeared at the last minute with his mom, Kurosaki Masaki, just in time for the lesson to begin.

Tatsuki made him cry again. It never really gave her any satisfaction, to see that boy sitting on the floor, his big brown eyes full of tears, looking defeated and helpless, one hand on the spot where she'd hit him. Even if he cried, she reminded herself as she helped him up, he'll get tougher, like herself, if she beats on him.

Ichigo ran to Masaki, hugged her tightly, and continued to sob while his mother whispered soothingly to him.

"Nice job, Arisawa!" their Sensei applauded her. "At this rate, you'll be the best karate kid in all of Karakura!"

Tatsuki bowed respectfully to him, then shyly walked over to Ichigo, who was trying his hardest to stop crying.

"Sorry, Ichigo," Tatsuki was looking at Masaki instead.

"Oh, it's fine, Tatsuki." Masaki smiled beautifully. Tatsuki had always been entranced by Mrs. Kurosaki's smile; it was like every trouble she had just melted away. "Tomorrow, we'll have a playdate. How about that?"

Ichigo was sniffling, but looked enthusiastic about doing something with Tatsuki besides fighting (_he always loses anyway, _she thought) so Tatsuki nodded vigorously, looking towards her mother near the other side of the room for approval.

Mrs. Arisawa smiled and moved over to them, and she and Masaki pushed Ichigo and Tatsuki back to their lesson and conversed quietly.

Tatsuki didn't lose at all that afternoon; then again, she never did. She managed to punch her way to the top last year in the class, and she was NOT about to relinquish that power. She'd always been a fighter, at least her mom told her. Mrs. Arisawa had this feeling, she said. A feeling that Tatsuki's amazing combat skills would be needed greatly someday.

But whenever she spoke of this, Tatsuki's dad would tell his wife to stop talking nonsense, and the subject would drop.

After karate, Mrs. Arisawa and Tatsuki drove home, and her mom explained that at one o'clock tomorrow afternoon, Masaki and Ichigo would come and pick Tatsuki up for the day. She would stay over for lunch and would be picked up around five in the afternoon.

Tatsuki barely ate dinner, she was so excited. She'd always liked Ichigo, she'd always thought that they could be friends. She promised herself not to hit him too hard anymore as she went to sleep that night.

Around five the next morning, she woke suddenly. Her body was covered in cold sweat, her heart was racing with fear of a nightmare she couldn't even remember.

Why did she wake up? What was wrong? It was too cold to really think straight, so Tatsuki wrapped her blankets around her shivering body; it did little good against the chill.

The rain was still coming down, heavier than before, but it was so dark, that at first Tatsuki thought the rain was blood.

Without knowing where she was going, she stood, still wrapped in a blanket, and went downstairs to the living room. The sun was going to rise soon, she knew, but the clouds weren't letting up.

She turned on the TV and sat on the carpeted floor, flipping through channels nonchalantly, when suddenly, she stopped.

It was the five o'clock news that caught Tatsuki's attention. This is what she heard:

_Around eight pm last night, a middle-aged woman was found dead by the river in Karakura. Apparently, this woman had been walking her nine-year-old son back from a karate lesson, and had stopped to buy some food at the grocery store. Her body was mangled; police suspect a mauling or a psychopath involved in the murder. _

_Her son was found crying next to his mother's body, covered in her blood. He said nothing about what had happened. _

_The boy's father and two little sisters came to get him at the police station around ten last night, after the boy finally said what his mother's name had been: Kurosaki Masaki._

_Her husband, Kurosaki Isshin, had these words to say:_

"_Please, leave my son alone about my wife's death. He's only a kid; he can't even remember what happened. Masaki is dead, and we want to grieve by ourselves."_

Tatsuki's stomach went cold, and her throat formed a hard lump she couldn't swallow. The blankets did no more good keeping her warm than a snowstorm would have.

She had a feeling her playdate with Ichigo would never happen.

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Love it? Hate it? Let me know!


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